Bullfighters hoping for better breaks during bull-riding finale

By Ted Harbin
Posted Friday, January 30, 2009

CHICAGO – Joe Garretson and Brandt Clark know what it takes to put their lives and limbs on the line.

The professional bullfighters do it for a living, placing themselves in harm’s way so fallen bull riders can escape. It’s what they will do starting at 7:30 p.m. Friday, Feb. 6, and Saturday, Feb. 7, during the Professional Championship Bullriders World Finale III at the Sears Centre.

And as they’ve proven over their storied career, Garretson and Clark will do whatever it takes to protect cowboys from the dangers of bucking, spinning and kicking bovines. While working at an event Jan. 23-24 in Grand Forks, N.D., Garretson suffered a broken arm on the second bull ride.

“I got caught back by the stripping chutes, and he really worked me over,” said Garretson of Springfield, Mo. “But there were only two bullfighters there. I worked another 65-70 bulls.”

Pain didn’t matter. There was duty. There was honor. There was also the need to be there for Clark, his partner for many events and the guy with whom he shares a reserve world championship from the 2007 Professional Bullfighters Daisy Protection Bullfight Tour. Garretson and Clark finished off a magnificent season of protection bullfighting competition with a strong finish in the finals.

“Fortunately, I’ve got a good orthopedic surgeon in Springfield, and he fixed me up when I got home,” said Garretson, a two-time Daisy Protection Bullfight World Championships qualifier. “He just did surgery on my left shoulder, and now it looks like I’ll have to have surgery on my right arm. But that won’t happen until after Chicago, so he just put a cast on me so I can go back to work.”

This isn’t the first time Garretson has worked in pain. His shoulder surgery took place in mid-November, and he was competing in the 2008 PBF World Championships beginning Jan. 2 – when most athletes who had undergone a similar surgery would’ve still been on the beginning stages of rehabilitation.

A week after breaking his arm, Garretson and Clark were scheduled to fight bulls at another PCB event in Cincinnati, so the World Finale in Chicago won’t be anything new.

“Joe’s one of the toughest guys you could ever meet,” Clark said. “He’s an excellent bullfighter, and he’s someone you can always count on. The fact that he fought bulls all weekend with a broken arm is proof of that.”

The World Finale will also feature another great bullfighter in announcer Rob Smets, a five-time freestyle bullfighting world champion who has been recognized as one of the great protection bullfighters in the game. He will be joined by Roger Mooney in calling the action. “Radical” Ryan Rodriquez will offer his unique sense of humor as the event’s funnyman/barrelman, also working in the arena with Clark and Garretson.

The action will also include the Divas of the Dirt World Class Barrel Racing Round and horse extremist Tommy Turvey. As for the cowboys Clark and Garretson have been hired to protect, they’ve earned their way to this championship, including reigning world champ Craig Sasse.

“This is going to be a great bull riding,” Clark said. “The fans will definitely get their money’s worth when they get there, because the entire show is full of action.”